Cooks, chefs and others who prepare food are familiar with the time and effort it takes to cut, grate, or mince vegetables, cheeses and other foods. While recently introduced products, such as food processors take some of the drudgery out of this work by providing an electrically operated appliance with spinning blades, they all suffer from a similar disadvantage. Namely, the integral container that holds the grated food is not large enough. While it may be adequate for foods that are used in small quantities such as nuts, it does not work well with food such as onions, tomatoes, peppers, celery, and other foods which are needed in large quantities to prepare certain dishes such as pasteles. Additionally, many food processors improperly cut certain foods, and the user ends up with ingredients that are either too large or too small in size. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which the cutting and grating of various food ingredients can be processed without the disadvantages as listed above. The development of the invention described herein fulfills this need.
In preparation of some Latin American cuisine dishes, the cutting and mincing of the necessary ingredients takes time and significant effort. Those who prepare such dishes often find conventional electrical food processors inadequate as they may have containers which are too small in volume and improperly cut ingredients leading to ingredients that are either too large or too small in size for the desired recipe. Accordingly, there exists a need for the cutting and grating of various food ingredients in the desired volume, especially for Latin American cuisine and similar recipes. The development of a food preparation apparatus particularly suited for these types of recipes fulfills this need.
Pasteles are a traditional dish of Latin America similar to a tamale and resembling a pastry. To make the dough, many different types of flour are used. Frequently, those making the flour resort to handheld graters to grate the banana, green plantain, taro root, pumpkin, or other foodstuffs. This is extremely labor intensive and time consuming, particularly, if one is preparing a large quantity of pastels for a holiday feast. The invention described herein resolves these problems in preparing pastels.
There have been attempts in the past to develop machines to prepare foodstuffs for cooking. U.S. Pat. No. D 493,074 issued to Brousseau et al discloses what appears to be a hand held rotary grater. Unfortunately, this design patent does not appear to disclose an apparatus similar to the disclosed invention nor does it appear to comprise a large central hopper with a blade system located at the bottom inside surface of the hopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,972 issued to Prommel et al discloses a rotary hand grater with a grating drum. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose an electrically-powered food processing apparatus that comprises a plurality of interchangeable discs to prepare foodstuffs for cooking or consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,434 issued to Virk discloses an apparatus for grating cheese and other foodstuffs comprising a container upon which the foodstuff to be prepared is mounted. A spring maintains the foodstuff against a grating disc that is manually turned. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose an apparatus that comprises a large hopper with an electrically activated crank that activates one (1) of a plurality of interchangeable cutting discs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,037 issued to Bigelow discloses an electric cheese grater with spring-loaded cheese compartment that is hand held. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose a large electrically powered food processing apparatus that comprises a large hopper with a crank operated blade disc to prepare food for cooking or consumption.
At www.elcomadito.com, a pasteles and alcapurrias maker is offered for sale that appears to be a large flat hopper that is connected to a chute containing a blade system that prepares the foodstuffs which then pass into a container. Unfortunately, this disclosed apparatus does not appear to operate in a similar manner as the disclosed invention nor does it appear to comprises a plurality of interchangeable cutting discs.
An additional disclosed pasteles apparatus is located at www.elcomadito.com on the internet and appears to be an electrically operated pastels maker with an industrial motor. Unfortunately, this disclosed apparatus does not appear to comprise a plurality of interchangeable cutting disks nor does it appear to comprise a clear plastic chamber.
Another pasteles maker is found at www.elcomadito.com and appears to comprise a large vat that is mounted over a cutting mechanism. Unfortunately, this apparatus does not appear to comprise a hopper with a crank mechanism to operate a plurality of interchangeable blades to prepare foodstuffs for cooking or consumption.
None of the prior art particularly describes an electrically-powered food processing apparatus. Consequently, there is a need for such an apparatus comprising a large central hopper with a blade system utilizing a plurality of interchangeable cutting discs located at the bottom inside surface of the hopper.